Melissa Hanson,36, has been named the the health district's 2019 Nurse of the Year ahead of International Nurses Day on Sunday.

The registered nurse, who works part-time in the Patient Flow Transport Unit (PFTU) at Dubbo Hospital, was called to the stage at a leadership forum on Thursday to receive flowers, an award and the thanks of the health district's chief executive Scott McLachlan.

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"I didn't know I was in the running," Mrs Hanson said after the presentation in the auditorium of Dubbo RSL Memorial Club.

"I just feel a bit of a fraud in front of all these wonderful people in the district who are doing amazing things."

Mrs Hanson, a wife and mother of three young children who moved from Sydney to Western NSW six years ago, is juggling family commitments, work, study and projects.

But the former Sydneysider, who declares she is "never leaving" country NSW, isn't about to complain.

"I'm so grateful to work for the Western NSW Local Health District," Mrs Hanson said.

"There are opportunities I've had here that I never had working in Sydney."

Mrs Hanson is currently studying for a Master of Nurse Practitioner and a Graduate Certificate of Applied Gerontology.

The recent receipt of the Ian O'Rourke Scholarship in Patient Safety from the Clinical Excellence Commission will enable her to travel to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to learn about a successful model of care that helps aged care residents circumvent unwanted and avoidable visits to the emergency department.

Mrs Hanson is developing the health district's first Residential Aged Care Emergency Department Equivalent Mobile Service into local Residential Aged Care Facilities (RACF) in collaboration with Dubbo Hospital's Emergency Department and the PFTU.

She said residents of aged care facilities found comfort and safety in them.

"It's often a scary thing for these people to to have to go to an emergency department by themselves," Mrs Hanson said.

"The aim of this model of care is to try to provide emergency care services within their aged care facility."

The health district's executive director quality, clinical safety and midwifery, Adrian Fahy, is full of praise for Mrs Hanson.

"Melissa is a very skilled clinician and role model that has a deep passion for ensuring that patients and their families are at the center of their care," he said.

"Melissa is a strong patient advocate and empowers her peers."

At the health district's forum on Thursday, the Dubbo-based Rural Maternity Service was named the 2019 Nursing/Midwifery Team of the Year.

"With the 2019 theme for International Day of the Midwife being Defender of Women's Rights, the Rural Maternity Service really demonstrates this ethos," Mr Fahy said.

"This service offers women in rural and remote locations access to a midwife within their home town.

"It allows women to stay within their local community to receive care which reduces the costs to the families, reduces travel, increases engagement and improves health outcomes for both the woman and her baby."